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Jackson's King Kong Confirmed.

Ok then, King Kong is cool. May you be better than the Godzilla movie.

Five-time Academy Award nominee Peter Jackson will direct King Kong for Universal Pictures, it was announced today by Stacey Snider, Chairman, Universal Pictures. Jackson will begin work on the film immediately following the release of The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King, the third and final installment of his blockbuster trilogy based upon the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien. Jackson will write the screenplay with his partner Fran Walsh and "Lord Of The Rings" co-writer Philippa Boyens. Jackson and Walsh will produce the film under their WingNut Films banner. Universal Pictures will release King Kong worldwide in 2005.

Jackson will bring his sweeping cinematic vision to the iconic story of the gigantic ape-monster captured in the wilds and brought to civilization where he meets his tragic fate.

The screenplay by Jackson, Walsh and Boyens is based on the original story by Merian C. Cooper and Edgar Wallace, which became the classic 1933 RKO Radio Pictures film, directed by adventurers Cooper and Ernest B. Schoesdack. The RKO King Kong has been designated by the National Film Registry of the United States Library of Congress as one of the 100 Greatest Films and chosen by that organization for permanent preservation as a national treasure.

Jackson will employ the latest motion picture technology to cinematically portray the timeless tale of the beast and his beauty. He will expand on the chapters of the tale that take place in the mysterious and dangerous jungles of Skull Island, and his Kong promises to be a unique and breathtaking creation. As with his "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Jackson will shoot King Kong on location in his native New Zealand. The visual effects will be again accomplished by his New Zealand-based company Weta, Ltd., who have twice been honored with the Visual Effects Oscar® for their work on "Lord Of The Rings." They will supplement practical locations in creating primordial jungles and '30s-period America.

"No film has captivated my imagination more than 'King Kong.' I'm making movies today because I saw this film when I was 9 years old. It has been my sustained dream to reinterpret this classic story for a new age," Jackson stated. "The story of Kong offers everything that any storyteller could hope for: an archetypal narrative, thrilling action, resonating emotion and memorable characters. It has endured for precisely these reasons and I am honored to be a part of its continuing legacy."

Snider noted, "Peter Jackson is a filmmaker uniquely capable of capturing the core appeal of enduring classics and in expanding the visual language of motion pictures, as inarguably evidenced in his landmark achievement with the 'Lord of the Rings' films. We are thrilled to be working with Peter and Fran, and we are confident that their execution of 'King Kong' will amaze moviegoers. Anyone who has seen the first two installments of 'The Lord of the Rings' knows that Peter will bring Kong to life as a real character. His vision for the tragic tale of the misunderstood creature, with its poignant character development and technological wonder, will make 'King Kong' compulsory viewing for any real movie lover.

LOL Bobafrett, as wacky as that sounds, i really sorta like that idea.

I can't help but wonder if they'll use a CGI King Kong or some sort of animatronics for him. Hmpfh.

At any rate, i trust peter Jackson, so i'm sure it'll be good. cheers!

"Woke up at 9.55am. Soon as I woke up, I looked at Suzanne and she looked at me. I said, 'Did I tell you about the immune system?' Suzanne starting laughing, I said, 'it's amazing.' She said, 'Not now.'"

You mean the US Godzilla right? 'Cause there's still many fine new rubber suit Gojira movies being made.

"No film has captivated my imagination more than 'King Kong.' I'm making movies today because I saw this film when I was 9 years old. It has been my sustained dream to reinterpret this classic story for a new age,"

That's a pretty nice quote to read. I suppose we'll have to see ... the worst thing that's happened as of late is that most of these remakes have been simply boring and not so much bad. A mediocre pointless rehash of this great old story will doom it. On the other hand, a modern (and by that, I don't really mean CGI and Marky Mark as the star) version that's true to the spirit of the original movie might be great. We don't need so much a "blockbuster" version of this story ... that's what we got in the 70s (and I love that movie) ... what we'll hopefully get is something that "captivates" the imagination of all of the 9 year olds out there today.

The Dominion Post scored an exclusive interview with director Peter Jackson on Universal's King Kong. Jackson says the film will have a budget of about $200 million and will be shot in Wellington, New Zealand and various "exotic" locations around the country.

Shooting is scheduled to begin mid-2004 with the aim of releasing the film in 2005. Jackson, partner Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens will start work on the script in October after The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was delivered, he said.

Jackson said the Wellington-based production would provide between 1500 and 2000 jobs and make a significant contribution to the local economy. Most of the King Kong crew would be New Zealanders, though Jackson was required by Universal to hire international actors for most of the bigger roles, says the trade.

Two-thirds of the film is set on the mysterious Skull Island - which is supposed to be somewhere near Sumatra in the story - so location scouts would be looking for a jungle-type location and beaches around the country.

The New York set for the last act of the movie would be shot in Wellington because filming in New York would be too expensive and too difficult to get the right 1930s look, Jackson added.

"We will build somewhere in the Wellington area. We'll just find some flat land and build a big back block set of New York streets and then use our computers to extend the buildings, make the streets longer and the buildings higher. It may just be a field somewhere on someone's farmland."

King Kong and all the dinosaurs will be computer-generated and as real as the wretched Gollum in "The Two Towers".

Re: Jackson's King Kong Confirmed.

Jack Black has been confirmed to star in the flick along with Naomi Watts. Personally, i kinda like this addition. I can't wait to see how Kong is going to look though; should be interesting to see what the genuises at WETA Digital have conjured up! cheers!!

"Woke up at 9.55am. Soon as I woke up, I looked at Suzanne and she looked at me. I said, 'Did I tell you about the immune system?' Suzanne starting laughing, I said, 'it's amazing.' She said, 'Not now.'"